Recyclable thermally insulated container

ABSTRACT

A recyclable container is provided wherein the recyclable container includes an outer carton and an inner wall affixed to the interior of the outer carton. The inner wall and the carton defining an enclosed cavity within the carton. A cellulose-based substrate is disposed within the enclosed cavity.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to a recyclable thermallyinsulated container. The shipping or transportation of variousperishable materials frequently requires that such materials bemaintained in a stable temperature range, either higher or lower thanambient temperatures to which the packaging of the materials will beexposed. Thus, there have heretofore been provided a number of differenttypes of thermally insulated containers.

Containers made from or utilizing expanded polystyrene or other expandedpolymers as an insulating medium have been in use for many years.Polystyrene is considered suitable insulating material for manyapplications. Polystyrene has been traditionally used to form a lid 112and a body 114 of a cooler which may be disposed in a box 116 as shownin FIGS. 1 and 2. However, the wide acceptance of using polystyrene forcoolers has made polystyrene a nuisance to dispose of because of thedifficulty of disposing in an environmentally responsible manner.

Polystyrene is generally not as easily recyclable by consumers comparedwith, for example, corrugated cardboard. Most cities now have recyclingprograms that will pick up a consumers corrugated cardboard and otherrecyclables, such as glass, directly from a consumer's home. However,may of these programs exclude expanded polystyrene. If a consumer wishesto recycle expanded polystyrene, the consumer must usually have totravel a long distance to dispose of their expanded polystyrene. Thesorting of expanded polystyrene from recyclables produces much waste interms of hours spent in sorting and hauling away expanded polystyrene.Also, if the expanded polystyrene is not recycled, it will most likelyend in a landfill, where its expanded volume takes up considerableamount of landfill space. The properties that make expanded polystyrenea good insulating material include being lightweight, being waterresistant, having a high insulating value, and being generallyinexpensive to manufacture. However, expanded polystyrene also hascertain drawbacks, such as being fragile, and as indicated, beingdifficult, if not impossible to recycle.

SUMMARY

A recyclable container is provided wherein the recyclable containerincludes an outer carton and an inner wall affixed to the interior ofthe outer carton. The inner wall and the carton defining an enclosedcavity within the carton. A cellulose-based substrate is disposed withinthe enclosed cavity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure willbecome apparent by reference to the following detailed description anddrawings, in which like reference numerals correspond to similar, thoughperhaps not identical, components. For the sake of brevity, referencenumerals or features having a previously described function may or maynot be described in connection with other drawings in which they appear.

FIG. 1 a perspective view of a prior art polystyrene cooler with the lidin the open position.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a prior art polystyrene cooler with thelid in the closed position.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present disclosure whereinthe thermally insulated lid is in the closed position.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present disclosure whereinthe thermally insulated lid is in the partially open position.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present disclosure whereinthe thermally insulated lid is removed.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of yet another embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present disclosure showingthe outer carton as one integral piece and is in the pre-assembledposition.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present disclosure wherethe inner wall is one integral piece and is shown in the pre-assembledposition.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present disclosure wherethe lid is one integral piece and is shown in the preassembled position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides a recyclable cooler 10 which is also“curbside” recyclable. With reference to FIGS. 3-6 together, the presentdisclosure allows for a recyclable thermally insulated container byproviding a container which includes an outer carton 12, an inner wall14 affixed to the interior 16 of the outer carton 12. The inner wall 14and the outer carton 12 may define an enclosed cavity 18 wherein acellulose-based substrate is disposed within the enclosed cavity 18.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6 together, the inner wall 14 may be madeof a first wall 22, an second wall 24, a third wall 26 and a fourth wall28. The inner wall 14 may also further include a base 30 as shown inFIG. 6. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 together, the first wall 22, thesecond wall 24, the third wall 26 and the fourth wall 28 may eachinclude a horizontal portion 32 and a vertical portion 34; the enclosedcavity 18 being defined at least in part by the horizontal portion 32,the vertical portion 34 and a portion of the outer carton 12.

With reference to FIG. 6 the base 30 in conjunction with the first wall22 the second wall 24, the third wall 26, and the fourth wall 28 maydefine the enclosed cavity 18 which holds the cellulose based material20.

Referring again to FIGS. 5 and 6, each of the first wall 22, the secondwall 24, the third wall 26 and the fourth wall 28 may be affixed to theouter carton 12 using an adhesive 38. The first, second, third andfourth walls 22, 24, 26, 28 may be adhered to the interior side 16 ofthe outer carton 12 proximate the joint 40 where the horizontal portion32 of the first, second, third and fourth walls 22, 24, 26, 28 coincideswith the interior side 16 of the outer carton 12.

The first, second, third, and the fourth wall 22, 24, 26, 28 may eachfurther include a flange 42 which is integral to each of the first,second, third and fourth wall 28 that is adjacent to the upper side ofthe outer carton 12. The flange 42 may provide an additional or the onlysurface to which the first, second, third and, fourth walls 22, 24, 26,28 are adhered to the interior side 16 of the outer carton 12.

It is also to be understood that the use of adhesives 38 is only onenon-limiting example for affixing any one or more of the first, thesecond, the third, and the fourth walls 22, 24, 26, 28 to the outercarton 12. Accordingly, another non-limiting example of affixing any oneor more of the first, the second, the third and the fourth walls 22, 24,26, 28 to the outer carton 12 is mechanical fasteners (not shown).Non-limiting examples of the cellulose-based substrate 20 implementedwithin the enclosed cavity 18 may be loose corrugated cardboard, loosenewspaper material, loose paper, loose box board, or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an interior insulated lid 35 may be furtherincluded where the interior insulated lid 35 is operatively configuredto be disposed on the horizontal portion 32 of each of the first wall22, the second wall 24, the third wall 26 and the fourth wall 28 whenthe container is in a closed position. The interior insulated lid 35 mayalso define an enclosed lid cavity (not shown) within the interiorinsulated lid 35 wherein the enclosed lid cavity configured to hold acellulose-based substrate material 20.

In one non-limiting example embodiment, the interior wall (the firstwall 22, the second wall 24, the third wall 26, and the fourth wall 28)may be adhered to the inner sides of the outer carton 12 at each upperend 70 (shown in FIGS. 6 and 9).

The interior base 30 and the outer carton 12 may define a general widthof a base cavity portion 64 wherein the base cavity portion 64 isco-extensive with the bottom side 66 of the outer carton 12. The basecavity portion 64 of the cavity 18 is configured to hold cellulose-basedsubstrate material 20.

In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, a recyclablecontainer may be provided where the recyclable container includes: anouter carton 12, an insulated base 36 integral to the outer carton 12,and enclosed inner carton 46 disposed within the insulated base 36. Theenclosed inner carton 45 houses a loose cellulose based substrate (notshown) within the enclosed inner carton 45. The enclosed inner carton 46and the insulated base 36 define a thermally insulated cavity 50.

It is also to be understood that where the use of enclosed interiorcarton 46 is implemented within insulated base 36 and the outer carton12, the present disclosure may further include a second enclosed innercarton 48 wherein the second enclosed inner carton 48 and the enclosedinner carton define 45, at least in part a thermally insulated cavity 50as shown in FIG. 7. A third enclosed inner carton (not shown) mayfurther be included wherein the second enclosed inner carton 48, thethird enclosed inner carton (not shown), and the enclosed inner carton46 define the thermally insulated cavity within the outer carton 12. Athermally insulated lid 35 (shown in FIG. 3) may also be included. It isalso to be understood that the insulated base 36 may alternatively bemade of separate components such that additional enclosed cartons (notshown) line the interior of the outer carton 12. Accordingly, a user maycustomize the size of the thermally insulated cavity 50 by simplychoosing the number and type of enclosed inner cartons 46, 48 for usewithin the insulated base 36 of the outer carton 12.

The inner cartons 46, 48 and/or the outer carton 12 may be made from acellulose based material, such as but not limited to corrugatedcardboard, loose newspaper, loose paper, loose boxboard or the like.Similarly, the loose cellulose based substrate material 20 that isimplemented in the cartons 46, 48 may be loose corrugated cardboard,newspaper, paper, boxboard or the like. By having the same cellulosebased material throughout the container, the ability to recycle theproduct is improved.

Given that cellulose based materials may be used throughout the variouscomponents of the present disclosure, the recyclable thermally insulatedcontainer of the present disclosure may be “curbside recyclable” suchthat a user may easily recycle this product from their own home bydepositing it at their curb with their other recyclablecontainers/products.

Referring now to FIGS. 8-10, non-limiting embodiments of the inner wall14, the outer carton 12 and interior insulated lid 35 are shown in theirpre-assembled state. As shown, each of the inner wall 14, the outercarton 12 and the interior insulated lid 35 may be an integral unitwherein each of the inner wall 14, the outer carton 12 and the interiorinsulated lid 35 may simply be folded in order to assemble each piece.However, it is also to be understood that the inner wall 14, the outercarton 12 and the interior insulated lid may also each be formed ofmultiple, separate pieces that are assembled together.

While multiple embodiments of the present disclosure have been describedin detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that thedisclosed embodiments may be modified. Therefore, the foregoingdescription is to be considered exemplary rather than limiting.

1. A recyclable container comprising: an outer carton; an inner wallaffixed to the interior of the outer carton, the inner wall and thecarton defining an enclosed cavity; and a cellulose-based substratedisposed within the enclosed cavity.
 2. The recyclable container, asdefined in claim 1 wherein the inner wall includes a first wall, asecond wall, a third wall and a fourth wall.
 3. The recyclable containeras defined in claim 2 wherein each of the first wall, the second wall,the third wall and the fourth wall include a horizontal portion and avertical portion; the enclosed cavity being defined at least in part bythe horizontal portion, the vertical portion and a portion of thecarton.
 4. The recyclable container as defined in claim 3 wherein theeach of the first wall, the second wall, the third wall and the fourthwall are affixed to the carton using an adhesive.
 5. The recyclablecontainer as defined in claim 3 wherein the first wall, the second wall,the third wall, and the fourth wall are affixed to the carton using amechanical fastener.
 6. The recyclable container as defined in claim 1wherein the cellulose-based substrate is loose corrugated cardboard. 7.The recyclable container as defined in claim 3, further comprising aninterior insulated lid operatively configured to be disposed on thehorizontal portion of each of the first wall, the second wall, the thirdwall and the fourth wall when the container is in a closed position. 8.The recyclable container as defined in claim 7 wherein the interiorinsulated lid defines an enclosed lid cavity within the lid, theenclosed lid cavity configured to hold a cellulose-based substratematerial.
 9. The recyclable container as defined in claim 3, furthercomprising a second interior insulated lid operatively configured to bedisposed on a second horizontal portion of each of the first wall, thesecond wall, the third wall and the fourth wall, the second interiorinsulated lid disposed opposite the interior insulated lid.
 10. Therecyclable container as defined in claim 2 wherein the first wall, thesecond wall, the third wall and the fourth wall are affixed to a bottomface of the carton.
 11. The recyclable container as defined in claim 1wherein the carton is made of corrugated cardboard.
 12. The recyclablecontainer as defined in claim 2 wherein the first wall, the second wall,the third wall and the fourth wall are made of corrugated cardboard. 13.A recyclable container comprising: an outer carton; an interior base aninner wall affixed to the interior of the outer carton at a first endand the inner wall being affixed to the interior base at a second end;the inner wall, the carton and the base defining an enclosed cavity; anda cellulose-based substrate; disposed within the enclosed cavity. 14.The recyclable container as defined in claim 13 wherein the interiorbase and the outer carton define a base cavity that is co-extensive witha side of the outer carton, the base cavity configured to hold a basecellulose-based substrate.
 15. A recyclable container comprising: anouter carton; an enclosed inner carton, the enclosed inner cartonhousing a loose cellulose based substrate within the enclosed innercarton, wherein the enclosed inner carton and the outer carton define athermally insulated cavity.
 16. The recyclable container as defined inclaim 15, further comprising a second enclosed inner carton wherein thesecond enclosed inner carton and the enclosed inner carton define, atleast in part a thermally insulated cavity.
 17. The recyclable containeras defined in claim 15 wherein the carton is made from corrugatedcardboard.
 18. The recyclable container as defined in claim 16, furthercomprising a third enclosed inner carton wherein the second enclosedinner carton, the third enclosed inner carton, and the enclosed innercarton define the thermally insulated cavity.
 19. The recyclablecontainer as defined in claim 15 wherein the outer carton and theenclosed inner carton is made of corrugated cardboard.
 20. Therecyclable container as defined in claim 15 wherein the loose cellulosebased substrate is loose corrugated cardboard.